The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
"And my next gift…"
This week’s Supplement is for each of you hundred-some supporters… each one; personally. Well… alright, not you.
Poems:
“Are We Going to Leave the Reception or What” by Lee Upton: Both this week’s poems are by 71-year-old white ladies, a demographic coincidence that does also speak to a certain concern with passing time – the three-quarters-life crisis, perhaps – present in both. Upton mimics the register of small talk to praise the party with faint damnation – “it’s awful”, but it’s also, you know, life. Dance like a goatherd. The unrest here does feel about an inch deep, but I’m still happy to have Upton whispering in my ear.
“Snow” by Rosanna Warren: This handles the themes even more obviously – the “snow” represents the inaccessibility of the past, the way its lessons fade in and out “as the bright green line of… life” ticks onward. It’s elegant and heartfelt; still, read along with the Upton it does lean lugubrious. Maybe not the best pairing of poems – their depths have so much in common that the difference in their surfaces feels like so much set dressing.
Cartoons:
Here's where to find the cartoons, with credits, in order.
Cover: ‘Twas a night with no C train, so all through the street, Santa schlepped with his bag, which was tough on his feet…
Pg. 9: Feels like it’s riffing on a certain kind of Facebook ad which had its moment, what, six years ago?
Pg. 11 [Sketchpad]: Not funny, really, but at least it’s properly cynical.
Pg. 14: Who crushes ants with their thumb?
Pg. 17: Impossible to illustrate this, I think, but I wish his wreath were made of hops.
Pg. 21: Co-wash ergo sum.
Pg. 22: The laboriously illustrated coffee shop doesn’t help this, and the caption is basically just a tweet. Still, it’s a pretty good tweet.
Pg. 28: A classic iffy Emma Allen-era cartoon – “What if the distracted boyfriend meme were zanier and somehow involved animals with human characteristics?”
Pg. 31: The resigned chickens are pretty good, but this is real dumb.
Pg. 32: Unfortunately I did kinda talk like this as a child.
Pg. 34: Not sure this is even a joke… but I like it.
Pg. 39: You know, I think I was so concerned with how annoying the song itself was that I never stopped to consider how annoying the circumstances described in the song were. Pa-rum-pum-pum-punishing! Best of the Week.
Pg. 42: MPJ today stands for Multilevel Palatial Jail.
Pg. 43: File under literally just a gripe.
Pg. 44: Frostbuddhism.
Pg. 49: A bit too Rick and Morty for me but I like the three-eyed critter with the wheel quite a lot.
Pg. 52: I mean… this is entirely and unironically the explanation for our education system. We’re reverse-engineering Paulo Freire through quips.
Pg. 58: A bit on the nose to put this right after the one on page 52, no?
Pg. 62: Really clever. (I suppose this often happens after a big split.)
76 Years Ago Today
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